


Time Bomb

by HeylelAndGoldenWings



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mentions of alcoholism, Sad!Tony, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Unrequited Love, brief mentions of self-harm, bucky and tony are friends, cliff hanger, not movie compliant, not really a happy ending but not sad either
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 13:57:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18740434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeylelAndGoldenWings/pseuds/HeylelAndGoldenWings
Summary: They’d always been a time bomb.





	Time Bomb

Tony thinks it’s funny how it all works out, in the end. 

 

They dated a month.  _ A month.  _ He might even go so far as to say that was the best month of his life, but… but the time spent with Pepper outweighed any of that. 

 

After that month, Steve broke it off.  All along, they were a timer counting down- Tony should have known. They would never have lasted. 

 

And then, two years later- 

 

It’s the silliest thing. He watches Happy and Pepper fall in love, like they once were. And- and a month later (it’s always something about a  _ month)  _ the realization comes crashed down on him, hard and dangerous and painful. 

 

He offers to do something for Steve. It’s mindless, really- it isn’t like he dislikes doing things for Steve. After years of ignoring him, they’ve started talking more, but really… not much. Not enough to make a difference. He’s hated Steve for so long, and now…

 

After the deed is done, he expects a thank you. That’s all- what more can he ask for? A thank you is what he gets, but before he can turn to leave, Steve says with a dorky smile, “wait.”  And then he’s wrapping Tony in a hug, and Tony is frozen in time. 

 

“Oh,” he says stupidly.  “We’re doing this.” And hugs Steve back. When they pull apart, his heart stops. This is it. This… Steve. 

 

But he cannot fall in love. He’d crossed that off the agenda after Pepper, after all his failed relationships, after years and months of denial. He can’t risk it, not again. 

 

But the months tick by. He keeps it to himself, for a while. He copes by drinking and sometimes more painful measures, but he copes by himself, and that’s what matters. 

 

After he tells one person, it just doesn’t stop. It seems like everyone knows, eventually. But the one that makes the difference- that’s Bucky. 

 

Because he knows that Bucky loves Steve, too. Bucky and Tony- they’re friends. And Tony, ever the futurist, had though, ‘oh, I should tell him I like Steve, too. he deserves to know’

 

Bucky blocks him out, and Tony is left to cry. He tells Rhodey, though, and complains about it to others. He regrets it. He regrets ever telling anyone, and promises himself…. he has to move on. Or at least pretend to. 

 

Because he had his chance with Steve, years ago. And he blew it. But after all, they’d always been a time bomb.  


End file.
